


Hidden Genius

by waterwhosleepwho



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama & Uzumaki Naruto Friendship, M/M, Nice Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama, Protective Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama, Smart Uzumaki Naruto, Strong Uzumaki Naruto, he's done with being treated like shit, naruto is a sensei now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27231052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterwhosleepwho/pseuds/waterwhosleepwho
Summary: Naruto was done pretending to be an idiot and he was done with putting up with how people treated him. So, he left. What will happen when he meets the Leaf shinobi once more, years later?
Relationships: Gaara/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 11
Kudos: 208





	1. Chapter 1

Naruto was getting sick of his teammates acting like he was the dirt beneath their feet. He had thought that once he got put on a team, he would have friends and people who cared about him. He was wrong. Even Kakashi-sensei clearly favored Sasuke. The only thing he was really grateful for was the fact that the Uchiha clearly hated them all the same. Obviously, it wasn't great that he hated Naruto but at least he wasn't treating him worse than anyone else.

He was sick and tired of the way he was treated by the people he was supposed to trust with his life, but he could have dealt with it. Until it happened.

~*~

Naruto sighed as he stood. "I should go back and apologise to Inari," he mutters. The blond makes his way back to the house and finds the younger sitting outside. "Hey."

Inari murmurs a quiet response. Naruto sits down next to him and lets his legs swing off the porch. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. It just makes me really mad when people complain about how hard their life is instead of doing something about it."

"Kakashi said that you're life wasn't very good either. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said anything like that without knowing what your life was like," Inari replies.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry about your dad, too. He sounded like an amazing person," Naruto says, leaning back on his palms. 

"He was," Inari whispers, his eyes starting to water. He huffed in frustration with himself because he was crying again.

"Hey, it's alright. You can cry. It's much better to let your emotions out instead of bottling them up," Naruto says, laying a hand on his shoulder. Inari burst into tears.

Unfortunately, that's when Sakura decided to come check on Inari. All she saw was Naruto sitting their while Inari cried. "Oh my god! What is wrong with you?! First you scream at him and now you're making him cry?! My parents were right! You really are just a horrible MONSTER!"

Naruto reeled back. He knew the pinkette disliked him but he never expected this. Inari leapt to his feet as Sasuke and Kakashi joined them. "Naruto's not the one with a problem! You are! He didn't do anything wrong!"

"Inari you don't have to-"

The boy cut Naruto off. "Someone has to! And it clearly isn't your so called teammates!"

Naruto sighs and gets onto his knees so that he can whisper into Inari's ear. The boy's eyes widen and he nods. Naruto jumps away before anyone could stop him.

The next morning, Kakashi asked Inari when Naruto was coming back, assuming that that was what the blond had whispered in his ear. Inari gave the man an annoyed look. "He's not."

~*~

Naruto sighed as he knocked on the door to the Hokage's office. When prompted, the blond enters the room. "Naruto? Is the bridge already done?" Sarutobi asks.

"Not exactly. I left early," Naruto says.

"What? Why?" Instead of answering, Naruto unties his headband and holds it out to the Hokage. "I see. Could you tell me why?" Sarutobi questions as he accepts the headband.

"I just........I can't pretend to be happy here anymore."

"Naruto? Always feel free to reach out if you need something."

Naruto nods and exits the Hokage's office, and then the village.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Imma fuck with the timeline a bit. Right now, Naruto is 16 and he's been away from Konoha for about 2-3 years which would mean he left the Leaf when he was 13-14. I know that's not canon but what the fuck ever. As of now the next chunin exam is coming up and it's to be held in Suna. The Third still died so Tsunade is the Hokage. Her and Naruto met briefly when he was out on a mission as a Suna shinobi. Also, the snake bitch never was an issue so Sasuke never left. I think that's it.

"I've never been to Sunagakure. Is it nice?" Sakura asks Temari, who was their escort to Suna. Temari shrugs and doesn't turn her head as she answers.

"It has its charms," she answers simply. Sakura deflates. The entire journey, Sakura had received nothing but short, clipped answers and phrases. Honestly, the pinkette had no idea what she had done to receive such treatment as the older female was perfectly nice to the others. Hinata offers the girl a half-hearted sympathetic look as Sakura fell back.

"Okay, everyone!" Temari says, clapping her hands and turning around. Kiba stumbles into Sasuke and Shikamaru due to the sudden stop.

"Shit, sorry dudes!" he exclaims. Shikamaru waves off the apology while Sasuke simply grunts. 

"Hey Sasuke, I have a question," Tenten asks. Sasuke glances at her. "I've only ever heard you speak a few times. Do you have a speech impediment?"

Kiba and Choji instantly dissolve into laughter while Hinata and Tsunade attempt to hide their own laughter. Temari laughs slightly as well before regaining everyone's attention. "Right, anyway, one of our best ninja will be meeting us out here. They're here to make sure we are who we say as well as assure the shinobi guarding the gate that we're us. If you would please all be respectful and wait until we arrive in the village to ask any questions, that would be great!"

"Are we going to wait here for them or meet them halfway?" Sasuke asks, slightly ticked at Teten's question.

"It'll be easier to wait here, considering how many of us there are," Temari asks. 

Lee throws his fist into the air. "Then everyone gather around and I will regal with the most amazing tales of me and Gai-sensei's adventures!"

Neji and Tenten exchange looks but sit down, knowing that it would happen one way or another. The others follow suit hesitantly. Luckily for them, the escort arrived quickly. It was a male with tanned skin and pale, sun bleached hair. He wore light grey pants tucked into shin-high black sandals. He wore a tight black tank top, black fingerless gloves that ended just before his elbow and had metal plates on them, a shuriken pouch on his right hip, a kunai holster on his left leg, and had a grey scarf over the bottom half of his face. His Suna headband was tied around his thigh that didn't have a holster. The group couldn't help but think that his bright blue eyes looked familiar.

"Ready to go?" The man's voice was pleasant. Just deep enough to be alluring and with a bit of rasp. Temari nods and gets to her feet.

"Wait, he didn't check our identities!" Sakura says. The man raises an eyebrow at her.

"I can sense your chakra. A transformation jutsu can't copy that. Anymore questions or can we go?" he asks. Sakura flushes and falls silent. "Great. Follow me, please."

As they begin to walk, Akamaru yips quietly causing Kiba's eyes to widen. He leans over and whispers in Shikamaru, who in turn whispers to Choji. Choji's jaw drops and his eyes snap to the man. Unbeknownst to them, the man had heard every word that they had spoken and was smirking under his scarf. 

"Stop! State your purpose!" the guards exclaimed as the group neared the gate.

The man ignored the practiced line and simply said: "They're with me. The Hokage and some shinobi from the Leaf."

Then, the man does something that the others can't see, causing the guard to nod and let them past. "So, what's your name?" Ino asks, batting her eyelashes.

"We've been walking together for ten minutes and you're only just now asking for my name?" the man asks. Ino flushes and mutters something about following instructions. "Why don't we wait until we reach the Kazekage's house for introductions."

"Why are we going to the Kazekage's house?" Choji asks. 

"You all will be staying in the Kazekage's house for the entirety of your stay here. Unless, of course, you would prefer to stay elsewhere."

"That won't be necessary. Thank you," Tsunade says. 

"Here we are!" Temari exclaims, gesturing to the Kazekage mansion. Shikamaru lets out a whistle of appreciation. "Alright, we'll wait in the Kazekage's office. He should be there."

Luckily, the office was on the first floor and it was easy for the Leaf shinobi to remember the location. Unluckily, the only person in the office was a tall man with purple face paint. "Hey, Kankuro. Gaara in?"

"He went out for a sec. He'll be back in a bit," Kankuro replies. The man nods and sits in the Kazekage's seat, proping his feet up on the desk. The Leaf shinobi were instantly appalled. Well, most of them anyway.

"Uh, aren't you going to say something about that?" Lee asks, interrupting Temari's conversation with Kankuro. Temari looks at where the green clad teen was gesturing and rolled her eyes at the sight of the blond who looked almost asleep with his head tilted back.

"Him? He's fine. Gaara wouldn't hurt him," Temari respondes. 

"So, Gaara really did become Kazekage? I heard about it but I always thought he was a bit young," Sakura says in a stuck up manner.

"If have an issue with it, feel free to leave," Kankuro says bluntly. Tsunade grins in amusement.

Everyone's head turn to the sound of the door opening. "Sorry about the wait. I'm glad you all made it here safely," Gaara says. The young Kazekage makes his way to the desk and lets the man stay where he is, instead opting to lean against the desk.

"Thank you for having us," Tsunade replies. 

"Of course. Now, if you would mind introducing yourself? I don't want to mix you up by accident. After all, it's been a while since we've seen one another."

The shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village introduce themselves, some introducing their friends. "Thank you. This is Kankuro, in case you had forgotten."

"Hey!" Kankuro exclaims.

"And him?" Shino asks, nodding toward the man behind the desk.

Gaara turns. "Hm? Oh, him. Take off the scarf would you? There's no sand in here."

"I beg to differ. Sand follows you," the man replies lazily, tugging his scarf down regardless. The Leaf shinobi gasp as they recognize the whisker like marks that adorned the man's cheeks.

"Naruto?!" Hinata and Sakura gasp. The teen in question stands and runs a hand through his hair, a habit he had developed to shake lingering sand out of his hair.

"Yup," Naruto says, popping the 'p'. "Though some of you already knew that."

"Can't hide from my dog," Kiba brags. Naruto cracks a smile and bumps fists with his one of only friends from Konoha.

"Good to see you again," Shikamaru says. Choji simply grins by way of greeting. Tsunade grabs Naruto's shoulder and pulls the teen into a hug. Naruto gladly returns it.

"Good to see you again, Oba-chan," he says as they pull away. (Please correct me if that's wrong. I got it from google translate) 

"You been staying out of trouble, kid?" the fifth Hokage asks.

Naruto shrugs. "Eh. Only when it suits me."

"Which is never," Gaara mutters. Naruto rolls his eyes. "I'm sure you'd all like to settle down so-"

"Incoming," Naruto cuts him off. Just as he said that, three children burst through the door. The shinoni gear and the kids' age lead the Leaf shinobi to believe that it was a team of genin.

"Naruto-sensei!" the girl exclaims. The blond raises an eyebrow and leans against the desk next to Gaara. 

"Kiyoko."

"When were you going to tell us about the chunin exams?!" the girl - Kiyoko - asks, sounding scandalized. The two boys crossed their arms to show their displeasure.

"I was going to tell you later today during training. Speaking of which, go to the usual place. I'll wrap up here and meet you in ten minutes," Naruto says. The kids nod and exit the room. Naruto takes his leave as well, fingers brushing against Gaara's arm as he leaves.

"Who were they? They called Naruto sensei?" Ino asks.

"That's Naruto's team. Kiyoko Ito, Rin Suzuki, and Haruto Nakamura. He's really good with them," Temari says. "They've improved a lot in the month that they've been training under him."

"Only a month? I could hardly sense their chakara at all!" Tsunade exclaims.

"Chakara concealment. It's something they learned from Naruto," Kankuro tells them. The Leaf-nin (minus Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji) were in shock. The Naruto they knew barely passed the graduation exams, was a huge goofball, and wasn't the best ninja. The teen they had seen today was cool, strong, and a teacher. Which put him at jonin level.


	3. Chapter 3

"Is there any way that we could watch Naruto train his team?" Neji asks. 

"Fine by me. But I have to ask that you keep your distance so that they don't lose focus," Naruto says as he appears beside Kankuro causing the majority of the room to jump. "Sorry, I needed to grab something."

With that, Naruto kneels down and grabs a few papers out of the drawer next to Kankuro's chair. He stands and holds up the papers to reveal chunin exams registration forms before making to leave.

"Wait, akanbo," Gaara says.(babe) "It would be easier for me to do it."

"You sure?" Naruto asks. "I know that it drains you when it's too far."

"I'll be fine." Gaara makes an eyeball out of his sand and makes it follow after Naruto. The blond nods and leaves. Gaara uses his sand to form a rectangle that shows what the eye sees. The shinobi all sit down on the floor, save for Tsunade who accepted the chair Kankuro offered her.

They watched as Naruto jumped along the rooftops, ignoring the calls of the people below him. In a short amount of time, Naruto had made it to a clearing in the woods. There, the young chunin were already at work. they were all sparring with one another, fists and feet and signs flying almost to fast for the onlookers to see. Naruto whistles sharply and everything stops at once. 

"Nice job, kiddies. I've got something for you," he says, waving the exam registration forms. The genin nearly trip over themselves trying to get to their sensei first. 

"Really?" Rin asks, practically vibrating.

Naruto scoffs and rolls his eyes. "No I'm gonna dangle the forms in front of your face and then tell you you can't participate."

"That'd be a real dick move," Kiyoko mutters as she examines the form. Naruto lightly cuffs her on the back of the head.

"Hey, watch it. Your dad'll kill me if he hears you saying stuff like that."

"So don't let him hear you," Haruto pipes up. Naruto rolls his eyes.

"200 laps, let's go," he says. The kids instantly begin whining. 

"What? Even me?" Rin asks, blue eyes wide. Naruto shakes his head and puts the kid on his shoulder, gesturing for the other two to get a move on.

"So," Tenten says, turning to Gaara. "Naruto is a jonin?"

Gaara thinks for a moment. "Technically? He's at kage or sanin level, but he never did formally take the test. He's worked with our ANBU before, so I guess you could classify him as ANBU."

"And you're dating?" Hinata asks, a small smile on her face. She had grown out of her crush on the boy, realizing that she valued him much more as a friend.

Gaara's own lips twitch up, betraying his true feelings as he nods. Kankuro throws his head back. "They're disgusting! Act like such a married couple!"

"Don't act like you didn't try to throw a damn party when they get together," Temari says, smirking at her brother. the puppeteer huffs and turns back to the sand block. Naruto was helping Rin with a justsu while Kiyoko and Haruto talked while running their laps.

"If you can talk, you can run faster," Naruto suddenly calls. Kiyoko sticks her tongue out at the young man but speeds up regardless. Haruto groans and speeds up as well, running a bit faster than Kiyoko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter! The plot picks up a bit in the next chapter, promise! Hope you like it! Love y'all! Byyyyyeeee


End file.
